UPSC Syllabus |UPSC Civil Services Exam 2023 Syllabus Download

On this page, you can read about the Civil Service exam pattern and UPSC syllabus. 

UPSC civil services exam 2023 syllabus

Abraham Lincoln wrote,

“Give me six hours to chop down a tree and I will spend the first four sharpening the axe”.

So, as per the above saying by Lincoln, an aspirant needs to know the complete UPSC Syllabus inside out i.e. sharpening their tools, to start the preparation. IAS Syllabus should be in the aspirant’s head like a mind map. It will help the aspirant in several ways;

  • It helps an aspirant in keeping preparation on the right track. Sometimes, beginners start to over-read the subjects i.e. reading the topics beyond the scope of the UPSC exam. 
  • Current Affairs is an important part of UPSC preparation. However, sources are plenty for it. Even in newspapers, all articles are not relevant for the Civil services exam. Thus, the UPSC civil services exam syllabus sets the boundaries within which, an aspirant has to prepare.
  • It helps in organizing the notes for revision. Due to the vast scope of the UPSC Syllabus, an aspirant can end up with a pile of notes, if the reading material is not divided into topics and sub-topics. Thus, dividing every reading material into topics and sub-topics help in organizing the revision material.  
  1. UPSC Civil Services (Preliminary) Exam – Objective pattern
  2. UPSC Civil Services (Mains) Exam – Descriptive pattern
  3. Personal Interview

Stage 1: UPSC Civil Services (Preliminary) Exam

SUBJECT

MARKS

MARKS PER QUESTION

DURATION

 

PAPER – I GENERAL STUDIES

200

2 MARKS (100 QUESTIONS)

2 HOURS

PAPER – II CIVIL SERVICE APTITUDE TEST (CSAT)

200

2.5 MARKS (80 QUESTIONS)

2 HOURS

There are two papers at the preliminary stage of the UPSC IAS exam.
  • One conducted in the morning (General studies (GS) paper-I)
  • The other in the afternoon (Civil Service Aptitude Test (CSAT)).
  • Both the exams have 1/3rd deduction for marking wrong answers (0.666 in GS and 0.83 in CSAT) and there is no deduction if the question is not answered (i.e. left out)
  • Both the exam marks are only for qualifying for Mains Stage and marks are not included in the final mark list.
UPSC prelims syllabus – General Studies

The General studies part of the exam will test the General Awareness of a candidate in a various domain such as History, Polity, Economy, Geography, Environment, Science and Technology, International Relations, and Current events.

  • Current events of national and international importance.
  • History of India and Indian National Movement.
  • Indian and World Geography-Physical, Social, Economic Geography of India and the World.
  • Indian Polity and Governance -Constitution, Political System, Panchayati Raj, Public Policy, Rights Issues, etc.
  • Economic and Social Development-Sustainable Development, Poverty, Inclusion, Demographics, Social Sector Initiatives, etc.
  • General issues on Environmental ecology, Bio-diversity, and Climate Change – that do not require subject specialization.
  • General Science.
   UPSC Prelims Syllabus – CSAT
  • Comprehension;
  • Interpersonal skills including communication skills;
  • Logical reasoning and analytical ability;
  • Decision making and problem-solving;
  • General mental ability;
  • Basic numeracy (numbers and their relations, orders of magnitude, etc.) (Class X level),
  • Data interpretation (charts, graphs, tables, data sufficiency, etc. — Class X level);

Stage 2: UPSC Civil Services (Mains) Exam

The successful candidates from the Preliminary exam are allowed to write the Mains exam. The Mains exam of the UPSC tests the student’s in-depth knowledge and ability to present instantly. The paper duration is just 3 hours. Other than writing speed, the ability to perform under pressure is analysed in this exam. 

There are 9 papers in the UPSC Mains Exam:

PAPER

TOPIC

MARKS

Paper – A

Indian Language (Any of the language mentioned in 8th schedule)

300

Paper – B

English

300

Paper – I

Essay

250

Paper – II

General Studies – I (Indian Heritage & Culture, History & Geography of the World & Society)

250

Paper – III

 

General Studies – II (Governance, Constitution, Polity, Social Justice & International Relations)

250

Paper – IV

 

General Studies – III (Technology, Economic Development, Biodiversity, Security & Disaster Management)

250

Paper – V

 

General Studies – IV (Ethics, Integrity & Aptitude)

250

 

Paper – VI

 

Optional Subject – Paper I

250

 

Paper – VII

 

Optional Subject – Paper II

250

 

Few important points to consider

  • Candidates can write Paper I to Paper VII in English or any of the languages mentioned in the 8th schedule of the Indian Constitution.
  • Paper I to Paper VII will be taken for evaluation only if the candidate obtained 25% of the marks in Paper A and Paper B.
  • There are 48 Optional Subjects in the UPSC exam. The candidate has to select any one subject among them. Two papers (Paper VI and Paper VII) will be conducted from that for 250 marks each.

Languages mentioned in 8th Schedule of Indian Constitution:

(1) Assamese, (2) Bengali, (3) Gujarati, (4) Hindi, (5) Kannada, (6) Kashmiri, (7) Konkani, (8) Malayalam, (9) Manipuri, (10) Marathi, (11) Nepali, (12) Oriya, (13) Punjabi, (14) Sanskrit, (15) Sindhi, (16) Tamil, (17) Telugu, (18) Urdu (19) Bodo, (20) Santhali, (21) Maithili and (22) Dogri.

UPSC Mains Syllabus :

UPSC IAS Syllabus for Optional Subjects:

The UPSC Exam syllabus includes 48 optional subjects covering a wide horizon of subjects including Literature, Arts, Science, Agriculture, Etc. Candidates have to select one optional subject from the IAS syllabus and there will be two papers for 500 marks (250 marks each).

Candidates need to choose any one of the below-mentioned subjects as their optional.

Serial Number

List of optional subjects

Detailed  Syllabus

1

 

Agriculture

UPSC Syllabus for Agriculture

2

Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Science

UPSC Syllabus for Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Science

3

Anthropology

UPSC Syllabus for Anthropology

4

Botany

UPSC Syllabus for Botany

5

Chemistry

UPSC Syllabus for Chemistry

6

Civil Engineering

UPSC Syllabus for Civil Engineering

7

Commerce & Accountancy

UPSC Syllabus for Commerce & Accountancy

8

Economics

UPSC Syllabus for Economics

9

Electrical Engineering

UPSC Syllabus for Electrical Engineering

10

Geography

UPSC Syllabus for Geography

11

Geology

UPSC Syllabus for Geology

12

History

UPSC Syllabus for History

13

Law

UPSC Syllabus for Law

14

Management

UPSC Syllabus for Management

15

Mathematics

UPSC Syllabus for Mathematics

16

Mechanical Engineering

UPSC Syllabus for Mechanical Engineering

17

Medical Science

UPSC Syllabus for Medical Science

18

Philosophy

UPSC Syllabus for Philosophy

19

Physics

UPSC Syllabus for Physics

20

Political Science & International Relations

UPSC Syllabus for Political Science & International Relations

21

Psychology

UPSC Syllabus for Psychology

22

Public Administration

UPSC Syllabus for Public Administration

23

Sociology

UPSC Syllabus for Sociology

24

Statistics

UPSC Syllabus for Statistics

25

Zoology

UPSC Syllabus for Zoology

Serial Number

List of Literature optional subjects

Detailed  Syllabus

1

Assamese

UPSC Syllabus for Assamese

2

Bengali

UPSC Syllabus for Bengali

3

Bodo

UPSC Syllabus for Bodo

4

Dogri

UPSC Syllabus for Dogri

5

Gujarati

UPSC Syllabus for Gujarati

6

Hindi

UPSC Syllabus for Hindi

7

Kannada

UPSC Syllabus for Kannada

8

Kashmiri

UPSC Syllabus for Kashmiri

9

Konkani

UPSC Syllabus for Konkani

10

Maithili

UPSC Syllabus for Maithili

11

Malayalam

UPSC Syllabus for Malayalam

12

Manipuri

UPSC Syllabus for Manipuri

13

Marathi

UPSC Syllabus for Marathi

14

Nepali

UPSC Syllabus for Nepali

15

Oriya

UPSC Syllabus for Oriya

16

Punjabi

UPSC Syllabus for Punjabi

17

Sanskrit

UPSC Syllabus for Sanskrit

18

Santhali

UPSC Syllabus for Santhali

19

Sindhi

UPSC Syllabus for Sindhi

20

Tamil

UPSC Syllabus for Tamil

21

Telugu

UPSC Syllabus for Telugu

22

Urdu

UPSC Urdu Syllabus 

23

English

UPSC English Syllabus 

Stage 3: UPSC IAS Interview/ UPSC Personality Test

Candidates who cleared the UPSC Mains Exams will be notified and called for the UPSC Personality test.

The personality test for UPSC Exam will have 275 marks interviewed by a board appointed by UPSC. The mental qualities, analytical abilities and personal suitability of candidates will be assessed at this stage.

Final merit list:

The Final merit list will be prepared based on the UPSC Mains Exam (1750 Marks) and Personality test (275 Marks) for the total of 2025 marks. Based on the marks obtained by the candidates their cadres will be allotted

 

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